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The consulting pro- fession’s primary focus, and top investment, has always
centered on smart people. In the past few years,
however, that focus has
expanded as more firms
open up new innovation
centers.

This growing emphasis on state-of-the-art office space reflects a newfound willingness to increase capital investment. It also raises questions
about the degree to which these centers and the
“immersive experiences” they provide reflect a
transformation in service delivery.

Consulting leaders are not alone in touting
the value of the digitally advanced, design-thinking-influenced client collaborations flourishing among their innovation centers’ cutting-edge touch screens and open floor plans. “One
of the biggest advantages [of KPMG’s Ignition
Centers] that our clients consistently mention
relates to the energy and creative nature of the
environment,” notes Lou Trebino, the leader of
KPMG’s Denver Ignition Center. He says clients also rave about the ability to interact with
a diverse group of KPMG experts on a moment’s notice—as brainstorming sessions veer
into new topics and uncover surprising, and potentially valuable, connections among different
industries, expertise domains, processes, technologies and solutions.

These types of creative interactions are one
of several selling points of the new innovation
centers many firms are opening.